A rare 15-foot megamouth shark washed up on a Philippines beach

A creature straight out of a Jules Verne fever dream was discovered on the shores of the Philippines. The 15-foot-long male megamouth shark was discovered after washing up dead on a beach in the province of Albay on Jan. 28.

Much about the megamouth species is unknown, as the creature itself was only confirmed to exist in 1976, when a U.S. Navy vessel caught one in its anchor. According to a 1990 study, the shark spends most of its time at depths of 400-500 meters.

The megamouth shark, which seems to have been named by an eight-year-old in 1996, has an oddly rubbery appearance. The specimen discovered in Albay was nicknamed "Toothless" for it's resemblance to the fictional creature in the How to Train Your Dragon series.

Toothless is the 15th individual megamouth shark discovered in the Philippines and has been preserved on ice for study.

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